The almanac

Today is Sunday, Sept. 8, the 251st day of 2013 with 114 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars and Uranus. Evening stars are Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include England's King Richard I, "Richard the Lion-Hearted," in 1157; Czech composer Antonin Dvorak in 1841; country music pioneer Jimmie Rodgers, "The Singing Brakeman," in 1897; U.S. Sen. Claude Pepper, D-Fla., in 1900; actor Frank Cady in 1915; comedian Sid Caesar and political activist Lyndon LaRouche, both in 1922 (age 91); British actor Peter Sellers in 1925; country music singer Patsy Cline in 1932; former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., in 1938 (age 75); Rock and Rool Hall of Fame member Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (Grateful Dead), in 1945; writer Ann Beatie in 1947 (age 66); English rock musician Dave Stewart in 1952 (age 61); actors Heather Thomas in 1957 (age 56), David Arquette and Martin Freeman, both in 1971, (age 42) and Jonathan Taylor Thomas in 1981 (age 32); and singers Aimee Mann in 1960 (age 53), Pink in 1979 (age 34) and Wiz Khalifa in 1987 (age 25).

On this date in history:

In 1565, the first permanent European settlement in what is now the continental United States was founded on the site of the present St. Augustine, Fla.

In 1900, more than 6,000 people were killed when a hurricane and tidal wave struck Galveston, Texas.

In 1935, an assassin shot U.S. Sen. Huey P. Long, D-La., at the Capitol building in Baton Rouge, La. Long died two days later.

In 1966, "Star Trek" premiered on NBC-TV.

In 1974, U.S. President Gerald Ford granted former President Richard Nixon full pardon for any and all offenses he may have committed during his years in office.

In 1993, the Senate approved U.S. President Bill Clinton's national-service bill, which would give participants grants for taking part in community service work.

In 1994, a U.S. Airways jetliner crashed near Pittsburgh, killing 132 people.

In 2005, the investigation into Iraq's oil-for-food program found that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's son Kojo used his father's position to profit from the project. Investigators say there was no evidence Annan knew of his son's involvement.

Also in 2005, more than 1,000 mourners attended the Washington funeral of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who died of thyroid cancer just shy of his 81st birthday.

In 2006, a U.S. Senate committee investigative report said no basis was found to link the regime of Saddam Hussein and the al-Qaida terrorist network.

In 2010, an ABC News/Washington Post poll indicated that 49 percent of Americans had an unfavorable view of Muslims.

In 2012, in his weekly radio address -- three days before the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States -- U.S. President Barack Obama said: "As Americans, we refuse to live in fear. Today, a new tower rises above the New York skyline. And our country is stronger, safer and more respected in the world."

A thought for the day: In "Middlemarch," English novelist Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot) wrote, "... men know best about everything, except what women know better."